The Core provides innovative statistical, modeling, and risk assessment capabilities in order to interpret results of the Center research. A unique feature of our Center is its close integration, and birth from the Institute of Risk Analysis and Risk Communication. This context has framed the Center and is especially evident in this facility core where the emphasis is on risk characterization. This has been accomplished by developing biologically based dose response models that are cutting edge and translational - taking basic mechanistic data from state of the art genomic data and incorporating this data into models for understanding the mechanisms of the exposure disease process. In addition, this core has also used multivariate statistical models that are innovative for exposure analysis and allow for successful interpretation and analysis of complex cohort studies and community based participatory research. Thus, collaboration with investigators on statistical designs and analysis is the start of an integrated process whereby this core has improved the initial design and construct of studies to increase their power to detect statistically significant results. Challenges for this Core include field samples with frequent values below quantification limits, missing data, multiple data collection protocols, combinations of random and fixed effects, repeated measures, and multiple spatial and temporal scales. To avoid arriving at faulty conclusions, our Core's researchers have taken these challenges into account when performing analyses.